but $90 million is not that much, especially when you consider the federal deficit is $16 trillion and climbing. to retire the debt, every single american would have to pay $50,000. but garcia says you got to start somewhere. especially when washington won't. the partisan bickering has bothered him since 1992, when garcia first wrote his congressman, suggesting a formula to eliminate the debt. the depression-era kid and army vet says he wants to give back to a country that has given him so much, a feeling that is infectious. he knows his money wouldn't avert the fiscal cliff. but that is not the message garcia is sending to congress. >> in order to really solve the $16 trillion national debt, you have to sacrifice. >> reporter: politicians talk about kicking the can down the road. one american that is decided that road has to end. and it might as well be here. kyung lah, cnn, san antonio, texas. >>> you have to love that story. and a lot of us lived this one, the wild ride to election day, 2012. cnn national political correspondent jim acosta has more on the story. >> reporter: the yea